Loading and unloading attachment for tractors



Nov. 27, 1928.

M. H. DAMERELL LOAD ING AND UNLOADING ATTACHMENT FOR TRACTORS Filed May 13, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet Nov. 27, 1928.

M. H. DAMERELL LOADING AND UNLOADING ATTACHMENT FOR TRACTORS Filed May 15, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 so and transporting attachment;

Patented Nov. 27, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARK H. DAMERELL, OI

WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASQIGNOB TO IAN-GOR- DON COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION 01' IABEACHU- LOADING AND UNLOADHT G ATTACHMENT FOB TRACTOBS.

SETTS.

Application filed May 13,

This invention relates to a loading and unloading attachment for use on a small tractor.

It is the general object of my invention to produce a device by which relatively .heavy bodies, such as large forging dies, may be loaded and transported, and by which they may be easily unloaded at any desired point.

Such a combined machine has been found extremely useful in shops and factories where large forgings and heavy machine parts are manufactured, and the machine is also useful for many other similar purposes.

A further object of my invention is to provide convenient operating mechanism by means of which the load my be icked up or deposited as desired and by whic the load may be drawn onto the load supporting table or may be pushed from the front or outer end thereof at the unloading point.

My invention also relates to certain arrangements and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a tractor, with my improvements applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of my loadig. 3 is a sectional view of a part of the riving mechanism, taken along the line. 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of theattachment,

85 with certain parts shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional plan view, taken along the line 5-5 in Fig. 1; d

Fig. 6 is a detail sectional front elevatlon of certain driving connections, taken substantially along the line 6-6 in Fig. 2;

Fig. 7 is a plan view of the same driving connections, looking in the direction of the arrow 7 in Fig. 6;

. Fig. 8 is a plan view ofa portion of the loading attachment, partially broken away to show a safety device;

Fig. 9 is a sectional side elevation taken along the line 9-9 in Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is a detail sectional elevation, taken I) along the line 1010 in Fig. 2.

General constnwtion.

in dotted lines a commercial tractor of a usual are secured to the forward ends of the bars 13, said guide bars being connected at their upper ends by a frame member 15 (Fig. 4). The u per frame member 15 extendsrearward as in icated in Fig. 1 and is connected ,by a bracel6 to the lower frame member 13. The rear upper portion of the supporting frame is also connected by braces 17 to the rear axle casing 18 of the tractor, and additional braces 19 are also supported by the front axle 20 of the tractor, these latter braces carrying the greater part of the load onthe attachment. Upwardly extended portions 21 of the frame member 15 form a su pport for certain operating and controlling mechanism, the

- atter being normally protected by a cover or casing 22 (Fig. 1).

The load-supporting platform 24 comprises forwardly projecting frame members 25 (Figs. 1 and 9), sup orting a flooring 26. The rear ends of the frame members 25 are connected b a frame member 27 having u wardly pro ecting bracket portions 27 at tl ie rear or inner end of the platform, which provide bearings for upper and lower guide rolls 28. These guide rolls 28 are freely movable verticall in the fixed guideways 14 reviously described, as clearly indicated in ig. 5.

Elevating mechanism.

I will now describe the mechanism by which the platform 24 may be raised to pick up or elevate the load, or may be lowered to discharge the same. For this purpose, a cross bar 30 (Fig. 4) is secured below the frame members 25 of the platform 24, said cross bar having upturned ends 31 to which are pivoted a pair of links 32. Each of these links 32 is pivoted at its u per end to an arm 33 (Fig 1 formed inte ra with a segment gear or qua rant 34 whic is rotatable about a stud 35 fixed in one of the side bars 14 of the supporting frame. ed b The segment gears 34 are engag y inions 36 secured to the end of a cross she 37 rame member 15 A worm gear 39 on the shaft 37 is engaged by a worm 40 (Fig. 10),

. (Fig. 4) supported in'bearings 38 on the Referring to the drawings, I have indicated f mounted on a sleeve 41 which is freely rotatable in bearings 43 and which has a clutch' member 44 secured to the'rear end thereof.

A shaft 45 is rotatably mounted within and extends freely through the sleeve 41. A dou- I hand lever 49 by which it may be caused to engage the clutch member 44 when it is desired to operate the elevating mechanism.

When the double clutch 46 ismoved rearward, it engages a second clutch member 50 (Fig. 10) on asleeve 51 whichcarries a spur gear 52 which is connected to operate the loading and unloading mechanism which will be hereinafter described.

A-pair of bevel gears 53 and 54 (Fig. 3) are mounted upon sleeves 55 freely rotatable in bearings 56 on the frame member 15. The gears 53 and 54 are engaged by a bevel pinion 57 (Fig. 2), mounted upon a short horizontal shaft 58 having a pulley or sprocket 59 connected by a belt or chain 60 to a driving pulley or sprocket 61 which forms a part of the standard equipment of the tractor. The pul ley 61 may be rotated continuously, whether the tractor is moving or standing still, as it is directly connected to the engine independently of the wheel-driving mechanism. By the construction above described, the bevel gears 53 and 54 may be rotated continuously but in opposite directions.

hese bevel gears 53 and 54 are provided with conical internal friction surfaces, adapted to be engaged by a double cone clutch member 63 (Fig. 3) which is keyed to the shaft 45. The double cone clutch is controlled by a rod 64 extending through an axial opening in the shaft 45 and having a cross pin 65 extending transversely through slots in the shaft 45 and into radial openings 66 in the double cone clutch member 63. Cotter pins 67 or equivalent fastenin devices may be inserted in the pin 65 throug openings 68 in the clutch member 63, thus permitting convenient assembling of the parts and preventing displacement of the cross pin 65.

The rod or plunger 64 is operated from a hand lever 70 (Fig. 2) through a link 71 and a yoke lever 72 (Fig. 1) engaging a grooved collar 73 .on therear end of the rod 64.

The shaft 45 may thus be connected to a selected bevel gear 53 or 54 to rotate continuously in either direction as desired, andmay also be started and stopped by manipulation of the hand lever 70. The shaft 45 may also beoperatively connected either to the elevating mechanism or to the loading mechanism to be described, by shifting the hand lever 49 forward or rearward.

Assuming that the hand lever 49 is shifted forward, the shaft 45 will be connected to the elevating mechanism and the load-supp orting table24 may be raised or lowered by shifting aeease e sired position, thus avoiding the necessity forthe use of brakes or catches-to hold the load.

Loading and unloading mechanism.

I will now describe the mechanism which I have provided for pulling the load onto the table 24 or for discharging the load therefrom.

For this purpose I provide a cross beam or loadlng member (Figs. 1 and 4), slidable above the platform 24 and having depending brackets 81 ofi'set inwardly beneath the edges of the loading platform and provided with threaded portions or nuts 82. Screw shafts 83 are threaded in the nuts 82 and are rotatably mounted in bearings 84 and 85 (Fig. 1) in the platform frame. At their rear ends, the shafts 83 are provided with spiral gears 86 (Fig. 6) engaged by corresponding spiral ears 87 on a cross shaft 88 mounted in bear- The screw shafts 83 are thus connected to rotate simultaneously and in the same direction.

A second spiral gear 89 (Fig. 7) on one of the screw shafts 83 is engaged by a corresponding spiral gear 90 (Fig. 6) which is freely rotatable about the lower end of an upright shaft 91, and which is provided with a clutch member 92 (Fig. 9) on its upper face. A sliding clutch collar 93 is keyed to the shaft 91 and is normally held downward to engage the clutch member 92 by a spring 94 encircling the shaft 91. Certain safety devices for raising the clutch collar 93 under abnormal conditions will be hereinafter described.

At its upper end, the shaft 91 is provided with a spiral gear 96 (Fig. 4) engaged by a spiral gear 97, mounted at the front end of a countershaft 98 (Fig. 2) and provided with suitable thrust hearings to take up the end pressure thereon. At its rear end, the countershaft 98 is provided with a spur gear 99 engaging an idle gear 100, which in turn engages the spur gear 52 previously described.

If the double clutch member 46 is moved rearward to engage the clutch member 50, the driving mechanism is then connected to move the cross beam or loading member 80 along the-load-sup'porting platform 24, the amount and direction of movement being controlled by the hand lever 7 O.

Openings 101 '(Fig. 2). are provided in the cross beam 80 to which a chain hook or other securing device may be attached, so that a heavy die block or other article may be pulled onto the loading latform 24 without manual effort. The plat orm is also preferably provided with a plurality of anti-friction rollers the'hand lever 70 in the desired direction, or i the table maybe stopped in any desired position by placing the handdevcr 70in 1ieutral I or loading device 102 (fig. 9), extending crosswiseof the latform and facilitating the loading or un oadmg of heavy articles by substantially reducing the friction as the articles are moved along the surface of the table.

Safety devices. .The endw'ise movement of the cross beam 80 is definitely limited by the construction of the table and it is necessary to provide means to prevent injury to the apparatus if the-operator carelessly al-.

lows the cross beam to overrun its travel in either direction. For thi rovided the safety if. 8 and 9.

t the outer end of the table I provide a horizontally disposed safety arm 110 (Fig. 8), positioned for engagement by one of the nuts 82 on the cross beam 80 as said beam ap roaches its outer limit of travel.-

he safety arm 110 is connected by a link 111 (Fig. 9) to the lower end of a three armed lever 112, mounted on a pivot 113 at the inner or rear end of the loading table. A rearwardly projecting portion 114' of the lever 112 is connected by a link 115 to the forwardly projectinlg arm'116 of a yoke lever 117 engaging t e clutch collar 93 previously described. The third or upwardly projecting arm 118 of the three armed lever 112 is positioned for en agement by the cross beam or loading 'mem er 80 at its rearward or left hand limit of travel.

If the nut 82 engages the safety arm 110, forcing the same to the right asviewed in Fig. 8, the arm 114 of the three armed lever will be depressed and the yoke 117 will raise the clutch collar 93 out of engagement with the clutch member 92 on the spiral gear 90, thus immediately sto ping further outward movement of the loa ing member 80.

As the member 80 reaches its inward limit of travel it engages the portion 118 of the three armed lever 112 and similarly disengages the clutch members 92 and 93. It is thus impossible to cause the loading member 80 to overrun its limits of travel in either direction.

s purpose I haye devices best shown in General operation.

I operation and advantagesthereof are believed to be readily apparent, but may be briefly summarized as follows The loading and unloading attachment is entirely supported upon the tractor frame and thus takes advantage of the short wheel base and easy manipulation of the tractor, which is particularlydesirable when used in manufacturing plants in which the operating space isv very much restricted. The loading platform may be pushed under the load to be transported, and the platform may then be raised by manipulation of the levers 49 and 70, which are both tractor operator.

If the load is of such a nature that the loadmglplatform cannot be inserted beneath it, the p atform can be placed at a level with the load and the load may then be hauled onto the platform by connecting it with the cross beam or loadinglmember 80 and then ap lymg power to t e loadin screws 83. This is frequently desirable w ien' handling very heavy articles, such as die blocks used for drop forging.

en such a die' block is to be unloaded from the tractor, the platform is raised to the desired elevation and the loading member 80 is then moved outward to push the die block from the table 24 and onto the base or frame of a drop forging or other machine.

Very heavy loads may thus be loaded, transported and unloaded entirely by the tractor o erator, and without any manual eflort an without the services of additional workmen. Furthermore the load is automatically held at any desired elevation, as the worm drive of the segment gears 34 is nonreversible.

If the operator carelesly allows the loading member 80 to run beyond its limit of travel in either direction, the driving mecha nism for the member 80 is automatically disconnected by the safety devices above, described. I

Having described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I do claim is:

1. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor having a main frame comprising a su pleniental frame fixed to said main frame 0 said tractor and rojecting forward in front of said tractor f ame, said sup 1emental frame having substantially vertlcal guide-ways thereon, a work-supporting table mounted for extended vertical movement in within easy reach of the said guide-ways on said supplemental frame,

loading means mounted on said table and movable therealong for moving the load relative to said table and means selectively operative to drive said tractor or to raise or lower said table in said guide-ways. I

2. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor comprising tractor, a load-supporting table mounted for vertical movement on said frame, loading means mounted on said table and movable therealong said table, and tractor-operated mechanism effective for selectively raising or lowering said table and for moving said loading means tobliiove a load inward or outward along said ta e.

3. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor compr' a frame fixed to said tractor, a load-supportmg table mounted for a frame fixed to said for moving the load onto or off of vertical movement on said frame, loading means movable along said table for moving the load onto or oil of said table, tractor-operated mechanism effective for selectively raising or lowering said table and for moving said loading means inward or outward along said table, and stopping devices effective to prevent over-running of said loading means in either direction.

4. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor comprising a frame fixed to said tractor, a load-supporting table mounted for vertical movement on said frame, segmental gears pivoted on said frame, links connectmg said gears to said table, and tractoroperated mechanism effective to move said gears simultaneously angularly, thereby moving said table vertically. 7 I

5. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor comprising a frame fixed to said tractor, a load-supporting table mounted for vertical movement on said frame, segmental gears pivoted on said frame, links connecting said gears to said table, and tractor-operated mechanism eifective to move said gears simultaneously angularly, thereby moving said table vertically, said operating mechanism including a non-reversible worm and worm gear drive effective to hold said table at any desired elevation.

6. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor comprising a frame fixed to said tractor, a load-supporting table mounted for vertical movement on said frame, loading means mounted on said table and movable therealong for moving the load onto or oif of said table, elevating mechanism for said table, operating mechanism for said loading ing mechanism to said elevating mechanism or to said operating mechanism, and for stopping or reversing said driving mechanism.

8. A loading and transporting attachment for a tractor having a main frame, comprising a supplemental frame fixed to said main frame of said tractor and projecting forward in front of said tractor frame, said supplemental frame having substantially vertical guide-ways thereon, a work-supporting table mounted for extended vertical movement in said guide-ways on said supplemental frame, loading means mounted on said table and movable therealong for moving the load relative to said table, and means selectively operative to drive said tractor or to raise or lower said table in said guide-ways, said lowering means including segmental gears pivoted on the main frame and linked to said table.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

MARK H. DAMERELL. 

